Teen Spirit was first released by Mennen early in 1991, and with heavy advertising campaigns, it had soon "established a market niche" with teen girls.[3] However, one of its biggest boosts came from the grunge band Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," a song that was inspired by a friend of lead singer Kurt Cobain, Kathleen Hanna (lead singer of the punk band Bikini Kill at the time), spray painting "Kurt Smells Like Teen Spirit" on his wall (because Tobi Vail, Hanna's band mate and Kurt's then-girlfriend, wore Teen Spirit).

When Mennen was acquired by Colgate-Palmolive in 1992, the Teen Spirit brand was said to be the most popular product of its kind, and was the favorite of nearly 1/4 of all teenage girls.[citation needed] Because of its immense popularity, Colgate-Palmolive planned to begin a new hair care line with the Teen Spirit name. The new hair care products were released in August and sold well, as they were expected to.[4] Unfortunately for Colgate, the Teen Spirit name began to lose its share of the market, just as the song with the same name started to drop off the charts. Before long the company was forced to drop the hair care line, but kept the deodorants. Today, all that is left of the Teen Spirit franchise is "Teen-Spirit Stick." Teen Spirit Stick is offered in two fragrances: Sweet Strawberry and Pink Crush. These scents can be bought in either the 1.4 or 2.3 ounce (40 or 69 gram) sizes.[5] Both claim "all day extra effective protection" and a "long lasting fragrance."[6]